Mentoring Program for Women in Mathematics

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For many years now, the percentage of PhDs in mathematics granted to women in the United States has been at least 20% of the total. There are many colleges and universities in which half the mathematics majors are women. However, there is an observed lack of women at the most visible, highest levels of research, teaching and management. This is often explained as a time-lag, with the assumption that the numbers of women university professors and mathematical leaders will come in the future to reflect the demographics of the student populations. There are positive signs, as many mathematics departments now have one or two female professors, there have been women presidents of all the major professional organizations, and several of the most renowned industrial research groups are headed by women. At least three of the twenty prestigious Sloan postdoctoral research fellowships each year go to women, and the statistics of the National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowships are even better. There are, however, some signs that the situation overall is not as healthy as it might be. The numbers of women at research institutes like the Institute for Advanced Study and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute are not up to the 20% figure, probably partly as the most prestigious schools do not uniformly have many women enrolled (we find that there are only three women in graduate school in mathematics at Princeton University right now.) In particular, the IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute Summer Session has had difficulty attracting representative numbers of women. The Mentoring Program for Women in Mathematics is a ten-day workshop designed to prepare students for the summer session of the PCMI. The workshop includes lectures, seminars, problem sessions and exposure to a variety of scientists. It is set up to encourage both peer group mentoring and networking, as well as interaction between four or five levels of participants. The short-term goal i s to gather young women mathematicians together in a challenging and supportive environment. This incidentally provides a basis for an active women's network as well as an introduction to the scholars in residence at the Institute for Advanced Study of a spirited, serious and enthusiastic group of young women. The long-term goal is to help increase the number of women professional mathematicians in this country by providing information, senior role models and an excellent research environment for young female mathematics students. In the years 1994, 1995, and 1996, the short-term goal of the proposal has been realized very successfully. The written comments of participants in the program are overwhelmingly positive and speak of concrete advantages provided to the participants: intellectual advances, contacts with women mathematicians, increased self-confidence and, in some cases, the decision to pursue a professional career in mathematics. It is too soon to judge if the long-term goal of the program will be realized, but we are encouraged by the number of participants who have made a return visit to the program at a later stage of their careers. Chuu-Lian Terng, Northeastern University Karen Uhlenbeck, University of Texas at Austin Program Organizers